The present invention relates to a basketball shooting instruction device, and more specifically to a training aid that assists a person shooting a basketball (also referred to as a “shooter”) to have the proper form in standing and shooting a basketball to improve his or her ability to shoot a basketball consistently, accurately and with form that is advantageous when playing the game of basketball.
Basketball is a challenging sport and has many components related to the mastery of controlling the basketball. These components include dribbling, passing and shooting as the most basic components on the offensive side of the ball. For young basketball players, understanding and mastering good shooting techniques can be a challenging and difficult process. Often their feet are not squared, their elbows bend outwardly, their arch is flat, and they frequently use both hands when shooting the basketball. All of these errors in technique make for poor form and inconsistent results for the shooter. Without improving the player's technique, the shooting never improves and the shooter never becomes a good offensive basketball player. Having a basketball shooting aid can assist with muscle memory if multiple shots are practiced routinely with the basketball shooting aid and those multiple shot attempts are repeated over an extended period of time.
Several basketball shooting aids exist to help a shooter shoot a basketball but these basketball shooting aids have several shortcomings. One typical shortcoming is that the whole body is often neglected with existing training aids and devices, as one or two specific body parts are addressed with these shooting aids. For example, several of these shooting aids assist the shooter to shoot a basketball with one hand or to shoot a basketball while keeping the elbow in. In one example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,026, discloses a wearable elbow harness which assists the shooting arm to move up and down. In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,685, discloses a training aid in the form of a vest with a curved guide arm to assist the shooting arm go through a desired path. And yet in another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,016 discloses a detachable rectangular frame that adjusts vertically to simulate when the user has shot over a defensive player's arm and assists the shooter with following through on his shot. These devices focus on the arm movement but miss other important body positioning elements.
Other basketball shooting aids do assist a shooter's lower body positioning. U.S. Pat. No. 6,949,034 discloses an apparatus that restricts the movement of the leading shin when a basketball is shot. There are also parts of the apparatus to prevent the shooter from bringing his arm down after a shot and thus encourages following through on a shot attempt. U.S. Pat. No. 6,213,899 discloses a framed structure that creates a restricting enclosure and is convertible for left and right handed shooters. However, the configuration of the inventions found in these patents are not optimized for easy adjustments for different shooters and portability from moving the device from one place to another.
Thus, there is a need for a basketball shooting aid that accommodates the required foot placement of the basketball shooter. Furthermore, there is a need for a basketball shooting aid that assists the shooter in keeping his elbow in and his arm restricted to a planar field of motion. Moreover, there is a need for a basketball shooting aid that can accommodate left and right handed shooter. The height of the basketball shooting aid should be adjustable to accommodate the varying heights and sizes of individual shooters. There is also a need for the basketball shooting aid to be portable. Portability requires that the basketball shooting aid be easy to assemble and disassemble and compactable into an easy carrying package. Additionally, there is a need for the basketball shooting aid to be stable and sturdy enough to be placed on a flat surface such as a gymnasium floor and not fall while being used or accidentally bumped.